Archives: April 2005

50 Killed, 114 Wounded in Coordinated Series of 17 Bombings 3 Americans Killed, 7 woundedThe guerrilla movement pulled off a spectacular set of bombings in Iraq on Friday, as though responding decisively…

Parliament Approves Cabinet Interior Ministry goes to Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq Al-Jazirah is reporting, early Friday morning, several car bombs in the al-Azamiyah and Salikh neighborhoods of Iraq, which…

US Soldier, 4 Policemen Killed in Afghanistan by Neo-TalibanResurgent Taliban forces attacked Afghan police and a US patrol on Wednesday, leaving one American soldier and 4 policemen dead.CNN says the US has…

Racism in IsraelThe increasing racial tension inside Israel is a worrisome development. But what really struck me is the Israeli government projection that in 2025 inside current Israeli borders, 30 percent of…

Guest Comment: "Bush is Lying" by Kevin McMillanKevin McMillan of Columbia University writes:"I'd suggest a friendly amendment to today's post on many Americans' view that President Bush actively lied to them about…

Talabani Fears Baath Military Pentagon: No Military Progress in Iraq in Past Year Jalal Talabani told al-Hayat that he feared that the concerns among the Shiite religious parties about Sunni Arab cabinet…

Postcript on BloggingMatthew Haughey says his posting about being tired of seeing the phrase "mainstream media" used by bloggers was "tongue-in-cheek" and that we should "unclench." I should say that I think…

Unbreaking NewsJust saw al-Jazeerah's evening news and now they are reporting that there has been a last-minute glitch in Jaafari's presentation of his cabinet to the presidency council. The presidency council is…

Negotiations on Government Al-Zaman/ AFP /DPA says that the new Iraqi military exchanged fire with the Syrians Monday at the Iraqi-Syrian border. The outgoing Iraqi government had accused Syria of allowing guerrillas…

Badr Corps Will Accept Ex-BaathistsBBC Monitoring translates comments of Hadi al-Amiri in ash-Sharq al-Awsat for April 24:April 25, 2005HEADLINE: HEAD OF IRAQI SHI'I GROUP OFFERS UNITY TO EX-BA'THISTS"The following is the text…

NYT Coverage of Palestinian Deaths CriticizedAlison Weir maintains that a statistical study of the New York Times's coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows that the killing of Israeli children is highlighted and…

Jaafari Decides to Exclude AllawiAl-Zaman/ Reuters reports that prospective Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has decided to give up attempting to form a government of national unity that would include the Iraqiya list…

Moussaoui Pleads Guilty Trial Begins in SpainZacarias Moussaoui pled guilty Friday to September 11- related charges. But he appears actually to have been envisaged as a "second wave", and wanted to hijack…

The New McCarthyism at ColumbiaMy extended op-ed on the Columbia affair ("The new McCarthyism: A witch hunt against a Columbia professor, and the New York Times' disgraceful support for it, represent the…

Assassination Attempt on Allawi 70 Bodies Recovered in Iraqi MassacresRetired Gen. John Keane, back from a fact-finding trip to Iraq, told The Hill that he thinks the Iraqi guerrilla opposition is planning…

20 Killed, 42 Wounded US Troops Humiliate Member of Parliament Guerrillas killed some 20 persons in Iraq on Tuesday and late Monday night, according to ash-Sharq al-Awsat. In the upscale Sunni Azamiyah…

Outgoing Interior Minister Warns on Iran, Badr CorpsFalah al-Naqib, the interior minister in the expiring government of Iyad Allawi, warned Tuesday that melding the Shiite Badr Corps into the new Iraqi security…

Badr: Foreign Troops UnneededThe Badr Corps claims to be in military control of Muthanna province, including the city of Samawah. Regional Badr leader Hadi al-Amiri said Monday that Samawah is secure, and…

Ex-Baathists Excluded Police Poorly Trained The United Iraqi Alliance (Shiite religious parties) who now dominate the Iraqi government are insisting on purging the Iraqi government of former members of the Baath Party…

Disputes Prevent Selection of Tamim Governor (Kirkuk) al-Zaman/ AFP: An Iraqi official in Tamim province describes the situation in the city of Kirkuk. Disputes among Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs have prevented the…

Guerrilla War Leaves 24 Dead in IraqThe Financial Times reports that guerrilla actions, including bombings and ambushes, left at least 24 persons dead on Thursday in Iraq. There were bombs in Baghdad,…

Neoconning the MediaEric Alterman's "Neoconning the Media: A Short History of Neoconservatism" is a must-read account of the movement and its main institutions and media outlets.Alterman lists "half of the New Republic"…

Demonstration in SamarraAsh-Sharq al-Awsat/ AFP: Hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated Tuesday in Samarra, demanding the withdrawal of American troops from their city. Clan elders and school and university students participated in the rally,…

Competent Intelligence Urged by Rumsfeld Ironies of Iraq today:Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is afraid that the new Shiite religious government in Iraq will purge ex-Baathists placed in the army and intelligence…

Sharon Defies Bush The AP headline gets it right: Sharon dismisses Bush Warning on Settlement Expansion. I would have called it "large-scale land theft" rather than "settlement expansion," but it comes to…

What the Muslims think is Really Happening in JerusalemThe far-right Israeli extremists who demonstrated in Jerusalem were not just protesting the plan to remove Israeli colonists from Gaza, as was reported in…

Of Bents and Teaching Daniel Drezner maintains that there are virtually no political science courses that deal with the Arab-Israeli conflict in the United States that have a "Zionist bent."Well, I disagree,…

Breaking News: Tens of Thousands Protest Americans in BaghdadTens of thousands of Shiites came out Saturday to Firdaws Square in downtown Baghdad to protest the continued US military presence in Iraq. It…

Talabani President The Iraqi National Assembly is set to announce the formation of a presidential council on Wednesday, selecting Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president, Adil Abdul Mahdi as a vice president,…

Huhn? The Real Iraq The unfortunate tendency in the United States to evaluate all statements about Iraq with regard to whether they are "optimistic" (i.e. pro-Bush) or "pessimistic" (i.e. anti-Bush) makes it…

Wesley Clark Conference CallWesley Clark held a conference call on the situation in Iraq with some bloggers Monday afternoon, in advance of testifying in Washington on the situation.He began by pointing out…

Sistani Fatwa on SecurityAl-Hayat: Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani gave a fatwa Friday saying that cooperation with the forces charged with safeguarding security in Iraq is "obligatory" on all Iraqis, "as long as…